Join us on this Learning in Lake Oswego episode as we explore our Model United Nations program, an outstanding extracurricular activity that offers our students invaluable experiences. This program is key in helping participants understand and appreciate diverse global perspectives. Hear insights from Sarah Mock, who is not only a teacher and parent but also a Model UN advisor in our district, and Zainab Khan, a standout student ambassador in the program. They will discuss the educational and personal growth opportunities that Model UN provides.
Dr. Jennifer Schiele, Superintendent, LOSD
Mary Kay Larson, Executive Director of Communications, LOSD
Sarah Mock, Teacher, Lakeridge High School, and Advisor, MUN
Zainab Khan, Student, Lakeridge High School, and Ambassador, MUN
Ryan Inahara, Teacher, Lakeridge High School, and Advisor, MUN
Katrina Levin, Teacher, Lake Oswego High School, and Advisor, MUN
MICHELLE ODELL:: [00:00:00] Welcome to Learning in Lake Oswego, a podcast providing educational insights for an engaged community. Lake Oswego School District Superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Shealy, will discuss what's important to our learning community. She'll be joined by experts examining various topics, answering important questions, and sharing upcoming events and activities you won't want to miss.
And now, it's your host.
MARY KAY LARSON:: Welcome to Learning in Lake Oswego. I'm your host, Mary Kay Larson, here with our Superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Shealy. Today, we are exploring one of our amazing programs, Model United Nations, often called Model UN. I'm eager to learn about this program alongside our audience. With us is Sarah Mock. She is one of our incredible high school teachers, who also serves as the advisor for this program.
And then [00:01:00] joining us will be one of her distinguished students, Zainab Khan. So with that, Jen, let's take it away.
JENN SCHIELE:: Hello listeners. The Model UN program is a phenomenal opportunity for our students. It's a privilege to discuss the educational and personal growth at Fosters. I'm looking forward to hearing from Sarah and Zainab about their experiences.
Sarah, it's so great to have you here. You wear many hats in our district. Teacher, parent, club advisor, can you start by telling us about your background in education and your roles here in the district? Kind of like how long have you been with us and what brought you to where you are now?
SARAH MOCK:: Sure, so I did my student teaching at Lake Oswego High School in the old building in 1995 and I started teaching at Lake Ridge in 1996 and with the exception of when I was at home with my children, I've been teaching.
I've been at Lake Ridge ever since then, so it's been a long time. And in the district, I teach science and I teach geoscience, [00:02:00] oceanography, AP environmental science, and I've been working with the new agriculture program. Love
JENN SCHIELE:: it. We can talk about so many aspects of our schools and you, as you mentioned, have so many things for our district.
So thank you so very much. But today we're going to focus on Model UN. So for our listeners who may be new to it, including Mary Kay, please. Give us an overview of what Model UN is for our
SARAH MOCK:: high schools. So Model United Nations is a international program that models the work of the United Nations. And it's been around almost since the United Nations began.
It's student led and it's run in high schools and in universities around the world. And basically the students act as delegates from countries around the world. So we represented China this year. Each school is assigned a country. And the students have to learn all about the country of China. They learn how China might think and act on different international issues.
And [00:03:00] then students go to the conference and debate with other students to try to solve global issues. But they are representing China, not their own opinions.
JENN SCHIELE:: Wow, that sounds very challenging. So you recently participated in the Oregon MUN conference, as you mentioned. As a staff advisor, what's the role in preparing students for that conference?
Like you mentioned learning about China, but what other things, what other skills do they need to be successful?
SARAH MOCK:: So this is all a student run conference. So we have a student Governing body at Lakeridge and the state conference is also run by a student governing body. There are very few adults that are kind of behind the scenes, just keeping things working.
So students at Lakeridge taught other students how to research China, where to look for information the kinds of things that they needed to know to be prepared. They helped post news. Try to try to keep up to date on the news that's happening in the world and how China might be [00:04:00] responding to that news.
And they help students learn how to use Robert's Rules of Order because the conference is run using Robert's Rules of Order and they then practice. presenting they make speeches about what they think their country should do to solve an issue, and they work on creating resolutions that they can get a majority agreement to try to pass resolutions to solve global problems.
JENN SCHIELE:: Do you think that's difficult for students? Because I think it'd be difficult for me to put myself in the perspective of another country and their ideas or their values. And Is that a hard part or is that pretty easy for our kids?
SARAH MOCK:: Yes. I think that is the challenge of the whole thing and I think it's what they find fun and I think when they really dig into it and they get to the conference, they have a good time trying to, to assume that role.
And of course it's a challenge and they aren't always, you know, completely successful, but they do a great job. They really do. [00:05:00] That's fantastic.
JENN SCHIELE:: So from your perspective, what's the most valuable skill that students develop through participating in Model UN?
SARAH MOCK:: Working to understand somebody else's perspective, like they need to do, helps them develop empathy and they, you know, they just, they just have to go much deeper into international issues and try to understand many sides and working to do the consensus building, which is what the conference is really built around is an important skill that's often lost in in modern society.
Trying to see things from other people's perspective and compromising is something kids aren't very good at, or we as Americans aren't very good at these days. So yeah, it's a, it's a great skill. It's great that we're
JENN SCHIELE:: helping guide them through that challenging process. So what's the biggest challenge that students face in these simulations?
And then how do you, Help navigate them through those issues.
SARAH MOCK:: First of all when they start the program the freshmen are a little [00:06:00] shy You need to get up and often there's a microphone and you need to just get up in front of the you know the room full of delegates, which is freshmen through seniors in high school and Make your speech and present your information.
I Encourage all of them on the very first morning. You don't have to get up and say something super smart You You can stand up and say, I agree with what Russia said, just to show that you are kind of forming alliances. And so I encourage them all to try to say something like that on the first morning, so that they can break the ice of having said something.
So that is, that's one of the big challenges. And then I think just getting their voice out there, feeling confident in their knowledge and working, you know, to find alliances and, and build. Build a consensus is just a big challenge for everybody and they keep working at it. And usually by the end of the conference, they, they've done pretty well.
JENN SCHIELE:: So just so I'm clear, is there a global [00:07:00] situation that everyone's talking about or can they talk about anything that's happening in any country at any given time?
SARAH MOCK:: The Oregon Conference, we have five major committees, and then there's a couple of small specialized committees, so the committees range from health and human services, there's an environment committee, there's a global security committee and then the specialized ones including the include the committee for the status of women.
There's a global tribunal for countries that have maybe done something against the law. And so some of the topics I talked about this year were what to do about space mining. Who has the right to mine the moon? Oh
JENN SCHIELE:: my gosh, how amazing. Yes.
SARAH MOCK:: Yeah. They passed some resolutions to try to, you know, kind of divide up who has access.
And we talked about. bee population. So the environment committee, we're talking about how pesticides are impacting bee populations. So there's just, there's a huge [00:08:00] range of topics. And usually we end up with somewhere between two and three kids per committee room from Lake Ridge. And then they're in rooms of kids that are 20 to 40 or 50 kids, depending on the committee.
JENN SCHIELE:: Wow, it's so impressive to think of our kids doing that, but I'm always in awe of everything our students do. So when you're teaching them all this, what are some practical strategies or resources you recommend for students to kind of prepare themselves for these debates or resolutions?
SARAH MOCK:: Ultimately, they have to write a paper, and it's called a position paper, and it outlines problem that they are trying to solve.
It talks about kind of how that problem came to be, talks about different countries perspectives, and then they talk about China's perspective. So they, they need to kind of really go deep into one of the topics. They also need to write a draft resolution. So they need to identify some aspect of the problem they think they can solve.
And the resolution is written in the format that the United [00:09:00] Nations would use. So they learn how to write using the language. So those are two things that are required for participation in the conferences. And then we do, we try to do practices get up and give a speech, get up and talk about a resolution during our MUN meeting times.
JENN SCHIELE:: And do we still, because it used to be something that they did in ninth grade history class that they started the MUN process and then it moved to more of a club. Is that still how it is? Or I know COVID kind of changed how we did everything.
SARAH MOCK:: Yes. MUN took a little hit during COVID. It's, you know, it was hard to have Zoom conferences, but we, we've been doing it.
And it's actually led to a nice addition to the state conference because we now have a crisis con in the fall that people don't need to prepare for. So people can come try a zoom M. U. N. With kids from around the state. And then we also have a winter con that It's kids come as China or whichever country we'll have next year and and kind of practice.
So it's nice to have those opportunities instead of [00:10:00] just the one state conference. So it's a club now. We don't have it as part of the class. We meet usually at lunchtime. Kids are very busy these days. Some schools have an, an MUN class and sometimes that's come up. I know Zaneb who's coming to talk here is interested in trying to get a class that would be an MUN class in the future.
That's
JENN SCHIELE:: great. Okay. Can you share some standout moments or achievements from past Oregon MUN conferences for our students and for you?
SARAH MOCK:: A couple of things, I mean, some very exciting things have happened when we've gone to the National High School Model United Nations in New York. When I was there four years ago with students from Lake Ridge, we were able to go to the UN and actually have a meeting in the General Assembly room of the UN, which was extremely exciting.
Yes, and then this year we had our guest speaker at the National High School Model United Nations was Anthony Fauci. So that was pretty cool. So those were very fun. And [00:11:00] Oregon our students are usually very successful. But I have to say for me, the most exciting part of the conference is actually just the walk from the hotel to the.
conference site, which is about 0. 6 miles. And when we're walking the kids, you have conversations with the kids, the chatter, the excitement, the first morning this year, I walked with freshmen students and they were nervous and kind of anticipating what it was going to be like and asking me a lot of questions about how it would work.
And as the weekend goes on, they get more confident and more excited and they come On the walk home that day, they're talking about, well, today in our committee, we started to do this and we think we might declare a war on Egypt or something, you know, they, they just start to really engage and talk about what they're doing and they're so excited.
So to me, that's the, the highlight of the whole conference is hearing how they feel and seeing how they grow during the course of three days.
JENN SCHIELE:: Spoken like a true teacher, Sarah, thank you so [00:12:00] much for being on the show today. And all you do for our students. Teachers like you help provide our students with such enriching and enduring experiences, and I'm so proud of you, the work our students do, and I'm glad to be able to stand alongside you.
SARAH MOCK:: Yes. Well, thank you. We love working here. Thanks.
JENN SCHIELE:: Hello, Zainab. Thank you so much, and welcome to the show. I have known her for two years now, I think. She's been such a valuable member of my high school superintendent council, and I found her to be so incredibly thoughtful. So I am so glad that she's here today to talk about Model UN.
Why don't we start by you telling us about yourself and how you got involved in Model UN.
ZAINAB KHAN:: Hi, I'm Zainab. I'm a junior at Lake Ridge now, and I started it. MUN when I was a freshman and fun story, I actually started doing it because all of my friends were doing it at the time. So peer pressure. This is a good one though.
[00:13:00] Yes. And then a few of them actually stopped doing it that same year after we found out the conference was going to be on zoom. That's So we had a very small group of kids doing it, but that made it more fun. And then I just progressed to doing it sophomore year. And then I was on leadership as well last year and this year I wasn't, but I'm planning on doing leadership again next year for MUN.
JENN SCHIELE:: Fantastic. So we just heard from one of your advisors, Sarah Antara is the other one. And. Sarah actually talked about the basics of Model UN, but can you talk more about what your role has been? You kind of mentioned leadership. What does that look like for Oregon MUN? At
ZAINAB KHAN:: Lakeridge, we have secretariat positions for each grade level.
This year we don't have a freshman one, but last year we did. It really just depends on how Well, the freshmen know MUN like from the get go, so what we do is we organize our weekly meetings and talk with the other [00:14:00] delegates or students about how the conference works and we prepare them to write their position papers and draft resolutions, which is what they'll need at the conference, and we also do, we have our occasional Kahoot, On country information, so that's always fun.
You are going to have to tell us what Kahoot is because not all of our listeners are going to know that. Kahoot is a very popular, it's like a game and then you do quizzes within it and it has this fun sound that everyone recognizes once you've done it a few times.
JENN SCHIELE:: Sure. Very cool. And so you just talked about leadership at Oregon MUN and I know you then when or actually before went to the International MUN, can you talk a little bit about what your roles are there and how that works?
ZAINAB KHAN:: Yes, so when we went to New York last month for that, I was the person doing leadership with our group that was going to New York from about November after Thanksgiving to pretty much mid March. I was the one [00:15:00] helping everyone get prepared, get all their research info, and writing their position papers. I read everyone's position papers and added edits, and I also was the one who planned what we were going to do.
while we were in New York. How many students went
JENN SCHIELE:: to New York?
ZAINAB KHAN:: 11
JENN SCHIELE:: total. So you planned what you were going to do in New York. How many days were you there? What kind of activities did you have to plan?
ZAINAB KHAN:: We were there for about five days. What we ended up planning didn't really, well, we still did all the things.
It was just harder to, A lot time because we didn't know what time our flight was going to get there, especially with it getting delayed But then on the first night we ended up going to times square and rockefeller center, which was so much fun We have a bunch of group pictures And then the second day that we were there that was pretty much all touristing up until like Six or seven p.
m. So we had a lot of fun that day. Like, we walked all around the city, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown. It was a [00:16:00] lot of the students first time in New York, including mine, so I think the advisors did an amazing job. And we had a lot of fun with them. To, like, have a good time in New York. I had a good time at the conference.
JENN SCHIELE:: I know that Ms. Mack said that the students at Lake Ridge this year were representing China. When you went to New York, were you also representing China or did you have to do a different country for that?
ZAINAB KHAN:: We were Oman for that one. For the Oregon conference, we were China because we did the Big Five bid.
So each year, One school gets one of the big fives, and you have to go to this competition, you have to plead your case to the conference organizers as to why your school should get China, and last year, it was a lot of fun, we had like 15 kids, we all went down there, other schools did not have that many, and we literally just went On pretty much a rant of why we should get it.
Like each of us had it for 30 seconds. One of the kids wrote it out on a note sheet really [00:17:00] quick and we would pass the phone around really quick. And we also had a Chinese student with us. She's lovely, Kara. And she talked about why we should get China because we have a lot of Chinese. Representation at our school anyway, and they really loved us.
JENN SCHIELE:: That's fantastic. I also know Kara, she is an amazing student. So like, as a student ambassador, what have you learned from representing a country and debating global issues?
ZAINAB KHAN:: Because we're representing different countries, we have to think in a mindset and point of view that is completely different from what we probably know.
Just as China, the switch is pretty intense so you have to do a good amount of preparation for it to be able to properly represent the country. And sometimes this does happen, like sometimes we don't know, so we have to do on the spot research of what our country would do. And at Oregon it's really nice that we have our computers allowed, but at New York we didn't, so that [00:18:00] was a Very stressful.
It was a committee. I was in a committee of like 200 people and it was so hard to do like on the spot research because we were used to having our computers. So the switch from Oregon to New York is very crazy. At Oregon this year we had approximately 950 students participating and at New York there were about 2, 000 maybe over 2, 000 in one hotel getting down an elevator.
That's not something we talk about. We walked up and down, like, over 20 flights of stairs in the same day. I had heels. So did the other girls. Two times in one day. Up and down. That, like, added to the fun as well. It's a good memory.
JENN SCHIELE:: Good. Lesson learned. Probably one that you weren't thinking you were going to learn.
Can you share a particularly impactful debate or resolution that you've participated in during the conference?
ZAINAB KHAN:: So last year I was in the International Court of Justice and that [00:19:00] was a very small committee. We had eight delegates total, five of them being big fives and two smaller countries. That made it very hard to do our topics because in the ICJ we have court cases, they're like archive cases from the ICJ that have already been decided on in the real ICJ, so we just debate them at our conference.
But they did not give us all of our applicant and respondent nations, so we had to sub in for other countries, where one of the topics, I was Japan, when I was actually France. And that happened this year as well, but, so we were subbing in for countries, but we ended up making such good resolutions and using current events.
It was such a good balance of everything that MUN is about, the teamwork, and cooperation, and like negotiation that we did as a group, it was so memorable, and because we ended up having a lot of time [00:20:00] after our topics, because, you know, eight people, oh, Not much to debate on when you're all big fives. So we kind of agreed on everything but it was a lot of fun and we ended up talking about like real life social issues related to them just outside of session.
We were really into it and even though We hadn't done much research on those topics as those countries. We had done it as our own countries. We just put in a little bit of work and had great conversations about those topics. And what's really fun about the Oregon Conference is that you go to the General Assembly to get your resolutions passed.
And one of them we got unanimously rejected last year. So everyone in the entire General Assembly, like 50 plus people, all said that it wouldn't work. And I think it was, it might have been the one on Russia and Ukraine. And it's like, we can't come to a reasonable explanation. Like, we just have to do what's most realistic.
That was really fun because [00:21:00] one of our topics, it was South Korea and Japan. And we were doing research and there had literally come out a new news publication that their relations are getting much better that same morning. So we like incorporated that as well. So that's something that I really like about MUN.
It's really valuable to learn about things across the world that probably we'll never even hear about in little old Oregon is very valuable because some of our cases in the ICJ, they're pretty old. One of them that we had this year was from 1997, but then applying that to today's current events, what happened with those countries, you have to take that all into account and it's not necessarily what the real ICJ said 30 years ago or something.
It's what's happening right now, and we're doing similar work. to the real UN and at a similar level, not as intense, obviously, but considering that the real UN can't really implement any of its policies and resolutions, we [00:22:00] have the same jurisdiction as the UN because only the Security Council can kind of impose things on other state, on other member states.
JENN SCHIELE:: Interesting. And I was trying to understand this a little bit more as far as the simulations go, but so what is a crisis simulation like? And then how does that complement the Model UN experience?
ZAINAB KHAN:: Crisis sim happens on the last day of the conference. We only have one session, and it's about two hours long.
And we get a new topic that someone on the leadership wrote, and I believe each committee has a different one. So basically, we got this situation, There was one last year. It was, there was a pirate attack in some country and we had to like basically figure out how to solve the situation. It was like an emergency basically, crisis, emergency.
So it's just trying to figure out. and negotiate with the other countries how best to deal with the [00:23:00] situation. And usually resolutions are just about how much aid a country is giving, what they're going to do to solve the issue. And I can go more into how position papers and resolutions work as well.
But basically, we write resolutions. That's the work that we do in the conference during our sessions, where we come together with all the other countries and write about how we're going to solve this issue. In the International Court of Justice, we do opinions, and those are the same thing as resolutions at Oregon.
And we acknowledge what's going on. for both parties and then try to solve and ease tensions between two countries because it's usually like very intense. We had Haiti and France this year as well. Lots of really interesting topics that also tie into what we're learning at school, which also really helps with writing our position papers because we can draw examples.
But that was a coincidence, I guess, this year. It really depends. Like the cases are so [00:24:00] interesting. Especially for ICJ, and then the other committees, I was just reading through some of the topics, and they're just very detailed. We can tell that the Oregon Secretary really put a lot of time and effort into what they're doing.
JENN SCHIELE:: And when you say Oregon Secretary, you're talking about a student who is serving as the Secretary?
ZAINAB KHAN:: Yes. Okay. Because this is all students who are running. Those are the student leaders. There are a few adults at Oregon. And then, they're called OPI. They literally run the whole show behind the scenes. It's crazy, they're always like swamped with work whenever you go
JENN SCHIELE:: there.
So, how has participating in Model UN helped you in other areas of your academic life or your personal life?
ZAINAB KHAN:: Model UN has really helped me to be more aware of certain political or social issues that are happening because Researching such specific topics as different countries, it's quite difficult to do that, especially because sometimes you can't find the information [00:25:00] that you need online.
So really just trying to figure out what that country would do, it's very interesting to see how like those learning experiences play into how can I solve these situations in my own life. It really helps to think on your feet. It's like speech and debate. The format of debate is quite similar. MUN is just figuring out how to negotiate with people who don't want to negotiate with you.
So then, applying that to real life is a little easier because people are more willing to listen to you. But it still helps you harness the skills that you need to be able to be a good speaker. I have not done much speaking outside of it. Everyone that I've talked to, they say that I have really good communication skills, and I feel like I give that to MUN.
That's where I learned how to talk, professionally, I guess. That's fantastic. How about
JENN SCHIELE:: personally? Do you, I mean, are you meeting a lot of kids from all over the United States, from all over Oregon?
ZAINAB KHAN:: In New York, I met a few Muslim kids, which was like crazy to me because I've met like [00:26:00] Maybe one or two other Muslim people at Lake Ridge, and I was there, and it was so crazy because we like could talk about Ramadan, and it was just so, it was so nice to actually like be able to see people like me, a lot of people like me, whereas in Oregon, there's not as many.
But at the MUN conference, there's so many people from everywhere. Last year, half of my committee was South Asian. So we talked about South Asian social issues and all of that fun stuff. It was so enlightening because they were Indian. And I feel like that was my first exposure to other, well, I'm Pakistani.
So it was my first exposure to Indians of my generation. And it was so enlightening to see that we did not hold the same grudges and issues as our past generation and we can move forward. Like, we're all on the same page, that there's no reason to have all this anger towards each other, which we didn't at the beginning, obviously, like, we had a [00:27:00] great time, but it was just nice to have those conversations that I feel are are often like ignored by our past generations and they just want to push with the slight aggression and stereotypes that come against each subrace in South Asia.
So I think just talking to them about those is really helping like the overall stigma of the situation like decline. And obviously I don't know what it's like for everyone, but I know that the people that I met, they were so kind. Moving forward. I have a good amount of trust that we're not going to have the same issues as our past generations and I think we're focusing more on coming together rather than coming apart again.
Yeah. I love that.
JENN SCHIELE:: I have said numerous times on this show about if our kids were running the world, we would be so much better off. Because you know, just as you've said, coming together, listening to each other, compromise, teamwork. I mean, I love that that's part of it. what our schools are giving to students right now.
And I love you had that opportunity [00:28:00] to be in New York and meet other kids who you felt like you had a good connection with. So just a couple more questions. What advice would you give to younger students or Model UN newcomers attending their first conference? So like kids who are just freshmen or even maybe if they're sophomores and the first time they're going, what kind of advice would you give them?
ZAINAB KHAN:: I would tell them to just talk. It's very scary and intimidating at first. And I experienced this again at New York. On the first day, when I spoke the first time, there were over 200 people in there, and I was literally shaking because I was so scared. After my eight person committee, the change was very intense.
But once I spoke one time, I progressively, like, did more and more. By the last day, I was up there without, like, a note card. I was just able to do it and talk normally. And be a good speaker. So I think just practicing speaking from beforehand, like that's something that I'll work on with the students. If I am on leadership, once again, I want us to represent [00:29:00] Lakeridge just as we do in like sports and everything.
I want us to be the best. Go Pacers, as always, we should work on that as a whole and just speaking. It sounds so easy, but once you get there, it's like, Oh my God, there's a bunch of people here. What if I mess up? What if I do this and whatever? So you just have to go for it. Like speak one or two times.
It's not as hard as it looks. Everyone's there. A lot of people are doing it for the first time. I had people in my ICJ committee that were doing MUN for maybe the first time. And ICJ and Security Council, at Lake Ridge, we don't allow students to do that, those committees, unless they've done MUN a year before.
So we think that it's a good thing. And I do think it's for experienced members, but I think you can do it. You just have to put in the work, do the practice, and you should be good. And one thing we kind of don't always think about when we're preparing for MUN is current [00:30:00] events. For New York, I did some research like the week before on current events.
And it was really good because some of the other countries, they weren't really representing their countries to the events that happened in the past week and like relations with other countries. So it was like, okay, we can do this. And if we continue to current events, like that's something that can help us be a better delegation and just.
More educated on our topics. If you are doing MUN for the first time, you should definitely try talking in front of people before going to the conference. And another thing that I feel like we could do better, everyone is meeting with our partners and working with them beforehand. I met these girls in my committee in New York and they were amazing.
Literally the most amazing MUN people I've ever met and they were so in sync because they've been practicing speaking for about three months and they did research for like two months and they literally [00:31:00] just did practice speeches every single week and they just knew all the debate topics. Obviously they went above and beyond, they do so much MUN, but for Lakeridge and Oregon just understanding your Co delegate is so important because you guys are going to be working together for three days and then meeting for the first time at the conference is not the best way to go about it.
Obviously it can be done, but I would not recommend it as someone who's been doing it for a few years now.
JENN SCHIELE:: And you kind of mentioned leadership for next year. So lastly, what are you hoping to gain from Model UN? Next year as a senior because you're going to be a senior next year. So what are you hoping that next year is going to bring for you?
ZAINAB KHAN:: After COVID, like the club really dwindled down and it was online. So very few people wanted to do it. When I was a freshman, I think we had maybe like 25 or 30 kids. Then last year we had about 40. And this year we have 50. So I think next year we're finally going to be at the point where it's [00:32:00] actually stabilized and it's not at the very baby steps and we like know what we're doing, how we're doing it.
I'm working on a delegate guide for the other delegates at our school and it's basically just going to have all of the basic rules and regulations, how the conference works, how they need to research and prepare, and I think that will be really valuable. We had those for New York, and they were so helpful, especially for some of the girls who were doing it for the first time.
They still got a sense of how debate was going to work. And then, as for me, what I hope to gain from it is, just to be able to work with such a big delegation is, pretty big thing, especially when they're the majority are underclassmen. I want to gain more experiences working with other people because my career goals as of right now, I want to be a neurosurgeon at some point.
Hopefully we get there. That will come when I have a lot of experience working with [00:33:00] other people. People who don't know what's happening, but I think me being able to explain it to them, and help them, guide them through the process, that's one of the skills that will really help me in whatever I choose to do.
Overall, MUN, even though it's not related to STEM in any way, it's still like, a great opportunity, and I learned so many things like every single day during a conference. I learned so much about how the world works, how other people work. It's just a great extracurricular for anyone who's like wanting to learn something.
And that's what I love about it. It's very diverse. You meet so many new people. You learn so many different point of views, whether it's of the other people there or of the countries that are being represented. I just want to continue learning how the world works, learning how other people work. And that's.
That's where I want to go from.
JENN SCHIELE:: Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights with us. I think the thing I love most about everything you've said and everything I've learned today [00:34:00] is this idea of putting yourself in someone else's shoes, kind of learning different perspectives, and Model UN is kind of forcing people to do that.
And it's a great program for our high schools here in Lake Oswego. We're so thankful that we have it. We are thankful for our students who sign up and I hope next year we have a hundred students who who go to. I think that would be fantastic and I think you'd be a great leader for him. So thanks again for joining us on our show and have a wonderful day.
Thank
MARY KAY LARSON:: you. Zainab, that was brilliant. Thank you so much for sharing all of your extraordinary experiences, both awe inspiring and very relatable. And I'm really excited to see where your future takes you and all the students who are involved in this program. So with this, we are transitioning to the last part of our show.
Jen, before we wrap up, can you tell us about upcoming school events?
JENN SCHIELE:: Absolutely. With the school year ending, we're squarely in graduation season. Our high school graduation ceremonies at Lake Ridge and Lake [00:35:00] Oswego High School are on June 7th and June 11th, respectively. It's a celebratory time for our entire community as we wish our seniors well and congratulations for all of their hard work.
While we bid farewell to them, and their families. We are focused on preparing for next school year. Operationally, our Legal Budget Committee is wrapping up their work on the budget adoption, which drives our staffing decisions for next school year. Human Resources is busy recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new employees over the summer.
And our Facilities Team and Capital Bond Improvement Program are ramping up for our building's busiest time of year, which is summer, with so many significant projects happening while students and staff are out of the buildings.
MARY KAY LARSON:: Yeah. A parent of a graduating senior, I am looking forward to, and then also not looking forward to this time because it's been such a, a wonderful experience being in our schools.
But yes, onward and upward [00:36:00] as we prepare for next school year. So with this, we have concluded today's show. Next episode, we will be talking about a very foundational. topic in our school district and in all school districts, which is education funding. I am very much looking forward to this conversation as I know many people will be tuning in because it's an important topic that touches all of us in education and our community.
JENN SCHIELE:: Thanks again for listening and until next time, keep exploring and stay engaged. Class dismissed.
MICHELLE ODELL:: We hope you found this episode informative and helpful. While our discussions are general, We understand each family's experience is unique. If you have specific questions about your child, please contact your school principal.
To learn more about the topics we discussed, ask a question, or share ideas for future episodes, please visit LOSDSchools. org. [00:37:00] And remember to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for engaging with Learning in Lake Oswego. We appreciate your support and look forward to having you with us for our next episode.